karenmeal

To all you home-owners out there, After you bought your first home, what were some of the unexpected costs that cropped up? My boyfriend and I would like to buy a house as soon as we are able to. If I decide to go to one graduate school, we might be able to swing it before I gradute because the area has a much lower cost of living. So many things to think about though.. costs of insurance, dealing with home repairs as they come up.. We're just not sure if it makes good financial sense to do this. We have a large chunk of change to put into the down payment.. but how many years do you need to live in a house (or what percent of the mortgage do you need to pay down ) before you're not losing tons of money on all the extra fees and what not? Am I better off keeping the money in a CD and bonds? We don't need to make money off of owning the home and selling it after a few years, but as long as we're not going to be losing as much money as paying $950 each month for rent, it would be an improvement. Any advice from you home-owners and financially savvy people? Do I need to go talk to a financial advisor and plan this out? (and how much do they normally cost?) "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Since me and my boy are a packaged deal.. at least 2! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

It's a good thing that in a couple years a certified speech language pathologist (who is also one bad-ass skydiver) will be supervising! Until then though.. guess we might be learning some lessons the hard way. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Those are good, although I can only handle it for about an hour before I need to unzip. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Hey! So does Bolas! Disposables can be cool too.. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I've got like 600 jumps in a pro-tec.. but I got sick and tired of my hair poking out of the holes in the helmet and getting tangled. Plus I could never hear the dang audible. Please tell me I am on my way to being cool like all the other big kids. Pwetty pwease? "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Just like everybody else! Edited to add: It's brand new! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Well.. if she has problems keeping warm, then I guess a down would be the gold standard. Also, you could get a down bag that goes down to a lower temperature which would still pack up smaller. Synthetic bags are good, and that is what I have, but it still packs up relatively bulky compared to a down. I wish I had a down bag, I need all the extra space that I can get in my backpack and having a down bag would probably free up some substantial room. I guess until I get one the boyfriend will just need to continue carrying all the extra stuff that won't fit in mine. I've never had problems keeping warm, but I usually go to bed with poly-pro long sleeve tops and bottoms, wool socks, a fleece jacket, and a fleece hat on. That works for me. And I have a therma-rest, that is essential too. I got the short one, don't waste the space or the money on the longer one, your feet don't need the padding. Ooh.. make sure whatever bag you get can be cinched up real tight around her head so that her neck stays warm. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Let her pick it out. That sort of thing is so individual. I've got a mummy bag and I wish I had a normal one. I got this one as a present and wish I had been able to have some input on it. (Especially considering that it's a pretty spendy bag.) "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

How does ear wax interfere with eustachian tube malfunction? That doesn't really make sense to me, and I'm graduating with a degree in speech and hearing sciences in a couple months. I would advise you to get a referal to an otolaryngologist, they should be able to give you much more specific information than your GP. You can really do some nasty damage to your ears if you skydive with a malfunctioning eustachian tube. You can tear your tympanic membrane (eardrum), you can disarticulate your ossicles (bones in middle ear) and you can also rupture the round window of the cochlea (very very very bad thing to do). Those aren't common things to do, but you should be aware that there can be long-term consequences. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

My first thought when I voted (before reading this quote) was that crutches suck so bad, you can't even carry your own soup to the table!! I hate crutches so bad. I would sooo take the cuddling. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I'm really sorry to hear that she isn't going to get better. I've been hoping to hear a different kind of update. I hope that you get to see her again to say goodbye. Just be honest with her and tell her how much she means to you. I've never had to say goodbye to someone in that circumstance. With one close friend I just wish that I had had the chance to talk with him before he died. I would have just told him that I loved him, and looked up to him and that he made a profound impression on my life. Then I would have hugged him and I wouldn't have let go until he realized how much his life was really worth. Edited to add: My advice for getting through it, do something positive that can help take your mind off of it. When my buddy died, a group of us focused our attention on helping out another friend who had just lost him mom (he was also good friends with the guy that died). We cleaned his house while we was gone at her funeral, cooked him lots of nice dinners that we froze for him to use when he wanted it, we built him a work bench in his garage and built him the bed-frame that he'd been meaning to get around to building. It was good for us all to just focus on being nice to someone else who was worse off than we were. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I'm still slaving away at school... I should leave early. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I would try to contact the UW and see what sort of services they offer. You may get a student clinician, but they should have good supervision and it will cost less. I know that at the speech clinic, they look for unique cases to assess so that the clinicians can gain exposure, you could try to work that angle when trying to arrange an assessment/evaluation. Here is some info I found for OT at the UW: Phone: 206-598-5764 Fax: 206-685-3244 Email: ot@u.washington.edu That should be for the OT program at UW and they should be able to direct your call to the clinic. (I couldn't find that number.) "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

cilantro. I always buy cilantro, I need to start growing it! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I agree. Nasty. Seriously. Nasty. No way. Ever. I don't need to feel like I'm being bad to feel good. Nope. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I applied to five speech programs and one audiology program. I'm kinda leaning towards audiology, but that program is the most difficult to get into.. so we'll see what happens. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I got accepted to one of the grad schools I applied to today! (Western Washington.) So I know that I'll atleast be going somewhere. I just wish everyone else would hurry up and let me know. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Don't quit packing because you aren't good at it! That is a very scary attitude to me. Just go learn more and get some rigger supervision and advice. I'm sure it will save you reserve rides (and possible incidents) in the future if you learn more about your gear. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I speak from a phonetic perspective. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Wrong.. it most definitely has a vowel, actually two. There is an /I/ and a schwa (which is a symbol that I cannot type on here). It's just spelled wonky, but adheres to the rule of every syllable needing a vowel. Here is my contribution: The stapes is the smallest bone in your body, it is part of the ossicular chain in your middle ear. Attached to this bone is the stapedius muscle. When you are exposed to a loud sound (generally over 85 dB) this muscle contracts and protects your ear. Tests of this acoustic reflex give insight into the function of a person's auditory system. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

I've forgotten them a few times, once there were no spare goggles in the plane for me to borrow. So for that jump I just ended up leading a tracking dive on my back. No problem at all! Head-down is not too bad without goggles either. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Looks like a hot air balloon. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

White Chocolate Brownies 1 cup plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 6 oz fine quality white chocolate, chopped 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla extract 6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips For the topping: 7 oz milk chocolate, chopped 1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, chopped 1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch springform tin (the kind of pan you use for cheesecakes.) Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. 2. In a medium saucepan over a moderate heat melt the white chocolate, sugar and butter until smooth, stirring frequently. Cool slightly, then beat in the eggs and vanilla; then stir in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared tin, smoothing the top. 3. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted 2 inches from the side of the tin comes out clean. Remove from the oven, sprinkle chopped milk chocolate over the surface (avoid touching the sides of the tin) and return to the over for 1 minute. 4. Remove from the oven and using the back of a spoon, gently spread out the softened chocolate. Sprinkle with the macadamia nuts and gently press into the chocolate. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes; chill for 1 hour. Run a sharp knife around the side of the tin to loosen; then unclip and remove. Cut into thin wedges to serve. "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

Good luck! Think happy, positive thoughts! "Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham